Contagious
by KimTomPW
Summary: A different take on Bella and Edaward meeting and why James takes Bella.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight books or any of its characters. _

Contagious

Chapter 1 You're Different

My name is Bella Swan. Today is the first day back to school. I am now a senior at Forks High School in Forks, Washington. Little did I know this day would end with a surprise I was not expecting? I came to live here with my dad, Charlie, about a year ago after my mother, Renee, and her new husband, Phil, moved to Florida.

"Bella," a voice calls me.

It is already lunch time, and I sit with my best friend, Alice Cullen, and her adopted brothers and sister. I realize that the voice calling me is Alice.

"What?" I ask. Alice gives me an annoyed look. "Oh, sorry, Alice."

Alice is a bit shorter than me with dark hair she keeps in a pixie cut. Her eyes are the same as her adopted siblings. A gold hazel that would sometimes turn to black.

"You haven't heard a single word I've said," Alice pouts at me.

"Sorry," I apologize.

And I am sorry, but if you are going to be Alice's friend, it is necessary to tune her out sometimes. Unless, of course, you are into throwing parties and going shopping.

"You're always spacing out, Bella," Emmett, the oldest sibling, while, oldest looking anyway because of his size, says.

"So, you were saying, Alice?" I ask, trying to ignoring Emmett.

"I'm planning a party," she says with a huge smile on her face as mine fades.

"Another one?" I ask, all enthusiastic I was trying to show gone.

Jasper, with his blond curly hair, laughed as Alice crossed her arms and wrapped an arm around her. They are not really brother and sister, so the fact that they, and Rosalie, easily the most beautiful girl in the world with long blonde hair, and Emmett were together.

"Don't be that way," Jasper tells Alice, pulling her closer to him.

"Yeah, you know Bella doesn't like parties," Emmett adds with a grin.

That was an understatement. I hated parties and evaded them if I could.

"So, what are you doing after school?" Rosalie asks, which shocks me because she rarely talks to me.

"I'm going to visit Jacob," I answer.

Emmett made a noise. I had known Jacob Black since we were little kids.

"Be nice," Alice tells him.

"Sorry, but the kid stinks," Emmett says, wrinkling his nose as if Jake was sitting with us.

That was a funny thing for him to say. I personally did not think Jake smelled at all.

"He's quite the mystery, Bella," Jasper tells me.

I had to let out a sigh. I guess this is what happens when you talk about old friends in front of your new friends.

"Oh, come on. I've known him since we were kids," I say.

They finally change the subject. However, the new subject was the party. You might be thinking there is something off about the Cullens. Well, you would be right. They are vampires. But they do not kill humans. They live off of animal blood.

xxx

"I had fun today," I tell Jake as we walk through the woods near the reservation he lives at.

I have often told him to transfer to my school, but of course he cannot. He says it is a tribe thing.

"Yeah, me too," Jake agrees.

When I hug him, his skin is burning on mine. Yeah, we had been outside, but it was nowhere near hot enough to make your skin burn like Jacob's was. We after all live in Washington where the sun hardly makes an appearance.

"Jake, you're burning up," I tell him, pulling back and feeling his forehead.

"I'm fine, Bella. Really," Jake assures me.

"But, Jake…" I begin to protest, but he just shakes head.

"Listen, I got to go. You can find your truck all right, can you," Jake asks.

Feeling defeated, I nod my head and say, "Yeah. I hope you feel better."

I feel like I was being watched as I walked back to my truck. I turn to look behind me. No one is there, and I feel silly for even being freaked out in the first place. When I turn back, there he is.

"Who are you?" I ask.

I know what he is immediately. He is a vampire, but he is not like the Cullens.

"What are you?" he asks me in return.

Little did I know he was going to change my life? As he walked closer, I wondered if the Cullen's already knew. I wondered if Alice has seen my death in her vision.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight books or any of its characters._

Chapter 2 He's Not Safe

We just stare at each other for what seems like hours. This gorgeous creature standing in front of me and myself. There is some blood on his button down shirt, which makes me take a step back, but he just closes it with his step forward.

"I'm going to ask you again. Who are you?" I ask, thinking him admitting it would somehow make this better.

"My name is Edward," he tells me.

Edward. Finally I get a name. He looks my age, but I know better. Looks like his do not come naturally. However, people who are not in the know would pass it for good genes.

"And what do you want with me?" I ask, taking in a breath as he walks around me, circling his prey before the kill.

I had a pretty good feeling what he was, but I had to make sure. The pale skin. The red eyes. He was a vampire. But he was not like the Cullens I concluded. His eyes were proof of that. He fed on human blood. And I was going to be his next meal.

"What are you?" Edward asks me.

"I don't know what you mean," I say.

He finally stops circling me and places a hand under his chin in deep thought.

"You're human, yet you have the scent of vampire all over you," Edwards says.

"Um, yes," I tell him, because that is the only thing I feel safe saying right now.

I stop breathing again as he takes a step closer and sniffs me. He wrinkles his nose as if I smell bad. Without thinking, I smell my hair.

"I'm sensing something else, but I'm not sure what it is," Edward says. I just stood there, hoping the Cullens would be here soon. I also started to hope that I smelt bad enough that he might not kill me after all. "Until we meet again." Before he left, he asked my name.

"It's Bella," I tell him.

"Goodbye for now, Bella," Edwards says, and he is gone in a flash.

As I walk to my truck, I begin to wonder if what just happened was for real.

xxx

Instead of going home, I drive to the Cullen house. Of course Alice had seen this, and they were waiting for me when I got there.

"Why didn't you come?" I almost scream at them.

I am angry because I knew Alice had seen Edward. And then I begin to think. Maybe she had also seen him not killing me after all. I let out a sigh and calm down, although my calming down no doubt came from Jasper. He is good at that kind of stuff. And damn him for it, too.

"We would have if you were trouble," Alice tells me.

"But we couldn't be sure at first," Jasper says.

I look at him for a moment. Did a part of him want to be there when the others did not?

"Bella, he's not like us," Emmett tells me.

I roll my eyes. Like I could not see that for myself? I knew Edward was not like them. Although a part of me for some reason wishes he was.

"I kind of figured that on my own," I say.

"Just be careful," Carlisle tells me.

I nod and leave. When I get into my truck to leave, I cannot help but feel like Carlisle, as well as the others, knew more about Edward than they were telling me.

xxx

I called Jacob when I got home to see how he was doing. Instead of saying "Thank you for checking on me", he got on my case for it.

"I said it was nothing. I'm fine," he snaps at me.

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better," I tell him, feeling hurt.

I told Charlie goodnight and went to my room. When I walked in, there was someone on my bed.

"Hello, Bella," Edward tells me.

I gasped and shut the door. I want to scream, but I'm so terrified nothing comes out.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you. And your window was open," he tells me.

"Oh," I say.

I make a mental note to make sure that my window is locked from now on. He gets up and sits at my desk chair.

"The Cullens…" I begin, thinking I can somehow threaten him if that was even possible.

However, he cuts my off.

"Are outside making sure I don't kill you," Edward tells me.

How could he possibly how that? And then it hits me.

"Are you?" I ask him.

I frown when Edwards starts laughing. He finally stops and crosses his arms seeing that I do not think it is funny.

"If that was my intention, you'd be dead already," Edwards tells me.

"So, why are you here, then?" I ask.

I do not know why I do, but I hold my breath when Edwards walks up to be and takes some of my hair in his hand.

"I'm intrigued by you. A human who accompanies vampires," his tells me.

"They're different," I gasp for air.

"So I've heard," Edward says with a laugh when he realizes I have been holding my breath. "Surviving on animal blood."

"So, why are you in Forks?" I ask him.

If he knew there was a vampire coven settled here, why did he not just leave? It could not all have to do because of me. Right?

"I wanted to see how my creator as doing," Edward tells me matter-of-factly.

"Your creator?" I ask.

I did not know of any other vampires here except for the Cullens. Did that mean… no. Surly I was mistaken.

"Carlisle," Edward tells me.

So much for me being mistaken.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight books or any of its characters._

Chapter 3 Stay Away

There was no way he was telling the truth. Carlisle being his creator did not make sense. He had never mention Edward.

"Shortly after I was made, I rebelled against him," Edward says.

"So, you decided you wanted to try again?" I ask. He gave me a questionable look. I guess he was wondering how I knew that. "I can tell you haven't been surviving on just human blood alone. Your eyes have a hint of gold to them."

I froze in place as Edward touched my cheek. However, I was less afraid of him now seeing the change of his eye color.

"There's another curious thing about you," Edward says.

"What's that?" I ask.

He does not answer right away. It looks like he is trying to hear something.

"I can hear what people are thinking. I can't with you," Edward says.

With that, he disappeared. Before I knew it, Alice was behind me.

"What the hell does that mean?" I ask her with my hands on my hips, which I usually do not do, but I am just so made at the moment.

'Bella, he can't hear what you're thinking," Alice tells me.

I fall to my bed. Alice, herself, seems to be in shock. I, a simple human, had somehow been able to deflect a vampire's special ability.

xxx

If I thought that was the last I would see of the runaway Cullen, I was wrong. The Cullen siblings and I were in the cafeteria eating, while I was at least, when Alice started to stare into space like she always did when she had one of her visions.

"You've got to be kidding me," Alice says, taking an unnecessary breath.

"What is it?" Jasper asks, wrapping an arm around her.

She looks right at me, which in toward make Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett do the same. I do not like this because Alice's visions have never been wrong. And by the looks of it, it is not a good one.

"Edward wants to see you," Alice tells me.

"We can't stop you from seeing him, but just be careful," Jasper says.

I yell to myself that, yes, you can stop me. Tell me not to go. Because if they do not, I will end up going or I will be seeing Edward tonight.

"Yeah," is all I say though.

xxx

I eventually ask Alice where Edwards want to meet me. After school, I walk towards the woods outside the parking lot. His back is facing me when I find me. I clear my throat to let him I am here. He turns and looks at me with wide eyes.

"You came," Edwards says in a somewhat shocked tone.

Apparently he was not expecting me to come.

"Yeah, well, I figured if I didn't you'd be in my room tonight," I say.

He laughed and extended his hand, which I took with my trembling one.

"Where are you taking me?" I ask as he throws me on to his back.

"You'll see," Edward says with a smile.

I wrapped my arms around him, and we were off. My eyes are closed the entire time. When we finally stop, Edward carefully puts me down. I look around and found that we were in the middle of clearing.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"It's a meadow I found a few days ago," Edward says.

"Oh," I say.

Before I knew it, we were laying on the grass, looking up at the sky. We turn and look at each other.

"Stay still," Edwards says. He turns to his side. "I want to try something."

He slowly leans into me and his icy lips touch mine.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight books or any of its characters._

Chapter 4 You Shouldn't Have

I do not respond quickly because the fact I am kissing a vampire puts me into shock. When the shock surpasses, I respond with such passion that Edward pulls away from me.

"Sorry," I apologize.

I can only imagine what my face looks like at that moment.

"Don't be," Edward replies, but I can tell he is trying his best not to take in my scent which is now near its peak due to my quickening pulse and flush cheeks.

I gasp when I saw the Cullen's. Alice had her arms wrapped from her middle as Emmett is trying not to laugh. Carlisle and Esme are looking at me with concerned eyes. Jasper and Rosalie's expressions cannot be made out. I would not blame them for being disgusted with me.

"Don't stop on our account," Emmett says, finally letting out a laugh, but he stops when Rosalie hits him in the stomach.

"I…" I begin to say, but the mood suddenly takes a turn.

Everyone's eyes grow and Edward pulls me up and hides me behind the Cullen's before I can even blink again. I look over at Alice, and it seems the rest are doing the same, but she does not say a word.

"What's going on?" I try to ask her, but her hand quickly covers my mouth.

Her shockingly cold skin does not have much effect on me as it used to. At the beginning, I would always jump a little whenever Alice would hug me.

"Shhh," Alice hisses at me.

My eyes grow when someone starts to walk out of the woods and towards us. He is wearing a brown jacket with no shirt underneath and his blond hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Hello," the man, who is clearly a vampire, says.

Carlisle walks up to the man and shakes his hand, because that is just who he is. He would try to talk his way out of a fight before having to fight.

"Hello, may we help you?" Carlisle asks.

"I'm just passing through. My name is James," James says.

Weird. I was thinking his name would be something more exotic.

"I'm Carlisle, and this is my family," Carlisle says, gesturing to everyone, even Edward and me.

While, Edward is, for lack of a better word, father. And then the worst thing that could happen happened. A gust of wind blew my scent right towards James.

"What do we have here?" James asks, his eyes locked on mine.

I stand as still as possible. Carlisle, as while as Alice and Emmett, stand closer to Edward to shield me.

"She's with us," Esme tell James.

James makes a small laugh and replies, "Yes, I can see that."

Before anything else was said, James was gone.

"This is bad, isn't it?" I ask.

"Very bad," Alice agrees without looking at me.

Everyone is looking at Alice as if she will know what to do.

"But didn't you just, like, claim me or something?" I ask.

Carlisle is the first to look at me since James disappeared.

"He doesn't care, Bella," he tells me sadly.

"We need to get back to the house," Alice says, and Edward has my arm and we are off.

"What do I tell Charlie?" I ask, hardly to catch my breath.

"Bella…" Edward begins to say, but he stops himself.

I look around and am surprised I find myself at the steps of the Cullens' house.

"I'm not going home tonight, aren't I?" I ask.

"No," Alice says.

"Bella, we need to keep you safe," Edward tells me.

xxx

I was put in one of the guest rooms for the night. I turn from looking out the glass wall that overlooked the forest when a knock came at the door.

"Come in," I say.

Edward walks me, and for some reason, it does not surprise me that it is him and not Alice.

"Aren't you comfortable?" he asks me.

He must think this because I am tense and I have my arms crossed. And he is right.

"Not when there's a vampire who wants to kill me on the loose," I say.

He walks up to me. He opens his arms, indicating that he wants me to walk into them. Slowly, I uncross my arms and allow myself to wrap myself around Edward. He places one hand on my head.

"I'll, we'll keep you safe," Edward says, and he kisses the top of my head.

He leads me to the bed, which I know is never used to sleep in.

"There has to be more than James wanting to kill me to have my blood," I say, not looking at Edward as I say this.

Edward lets out a small laugh. Again, not being able to read my read seems to amuse him when I say what is on my mind. At some times, I am thankful that Edward cannot read what I am thinking. Though I am sure my expressions give me away most of the time.

"I stopped him a few times from killing innocent people," Edward tells me.

And now, more than ever, I can see the influence Carlisle has had on Edward. Even though he hated him for it, Edward could not bring himself to kill for killing shake. He chose preys that were murders and rapists. The monsters that he thought he was himself.

"So, you're not the monster you say you are," I say, letting my hand touch his, but he quickly pulls it away and gets up.

"I'm still a killer," Edward mutters.

I get up and stand next to him, but I do not try to touch him again.

"You killed bad people. I'm sure you saved more people than you killed," I tell him.

"I try to make myself believe that," Edward says with a laugh.

I clear my throat after a loud pause.

"Well, I should try to get some sleep," I say.

"Good night, Bella," Edward tells me, and he leaves.

Instead of changing into the night clothes Alice has set out for me, I go to bed fully clothed. I wake up several hours later. That is when I sneak out the window. I did not know where I was going. Maybe that is why Alice could not see me.


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight books or any of its characters._

Chapter 5 His Weakness

Did a part of me know that James was waiting for me outside? Yes and no. I guess in a way I thought I was protecting them. The Cullen's. The fact of the matter is that I did it and I was now standing in front of James with a huge smile on his face. I must have a stupid look on my face because he gives a small laugh. I hope death comes fast, but I do not see James being that kind.

"Hello, beautiful," James says as he takes a step closer towards me.

I stay extremely still as James runs his hands through my hair. I do not want to give him the satisfaction of me shivering, and I am thankful that I do not.

"Just do it. Kill me," I tell him, closing my eyes so I do not have to see it happen.

"Now what fun would that be?" James asks me, stilling smiling

He grabs me and begins running at vampire speed. Maybe the Cullen's are already following us. When I finally open my eyes again, I am in a room that just contains a bed and a toilet. I turn around and find James leaning casually at the entrance to my prison.

"What are you going to do to me?" I ask.

He crosses his arms and begins to laugh.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about that," James says.

Then I think of something worse that he can do to me than killing me. I finally start to shake some.

"Oh God, you're going to change me," I blurt out.

I fall to the bed and cover my mouth to keep me from screaming.

"Hardly," James says with another laugh.

I begin to cry as he leaves me. When I wake up a couple of hours later, I find a plate of food waiting for me, which I do not eat. I begin to think of what his plans are for me if he is not going to kill or change me.

xxx

Back with the Cullen's, Alice and Edward were fighting. Emmett had tried to stop them, but it just continued. Rosalie was acting like she was ignoring them by watching the television. Jasper was behind Alice, as well as Carlisle and Esme.

"You love her," Alice said at the top of her lungs at Edward.

There was no denying it. She did not need a vision to see that. The problem was that Edward refused to admit it. How could a vampire be in love with a human?

"I do not!" Edward yelled.

If his face could get red, it would be now. He crossed his arms around his chest and turned away.

"Do to," Alice said, and before she could say any more, Jasper put a hand on her shoulder.

It frustrated her that Edward refused to admit his feelings when it was so obvious.

"Stop this childish bickering right now!" Esme snapped at them

This made everyone in the room quiet. Esme hardly ever got mad. Then again, the family had never fought like this before either.

"Sorry, Esme," Alice apologized, letting her head down.

"Now then, how are we going to save Bella?" Carlisle asked.

Edward quickly turned with wide eyes at Alice after hearing her idea.

"Absolutely not!" he protested.

Surly there was another way.

"It's perfect. James doesn't know about your special ability. You can hear his thoughts," Alice explained.

"And you can see what his plans are," Edward added.

And then he began to realize that it was a good plan. He was going to do whatever it took to save Bella. Edward then cursed at himself. Alice was right. As always.

"Exactly," Alice said with a wide smile on her face. Edward's angry look on his face fell. "I'll have a better idea of what's going on once I…"

"Alice?" Jasper asked.

Alice had the same expression on her face as Edward did. Something was happening that the others did not know about.

"Someone's at the door," Edward said.

Carlisle walked over to the door and opened it. Standing on the other side of it was Jacob.

"Jacob…" Carlisle said as Jacob passed him and entered the home.

"What's wrong with Bella?" he demanded. Edward was fighting the urge to rip this kid's head off. "Charlie said she was spending the night with Alice."

He knew Bella hated sleepovers. When he found out about the Cullen's being vampire, it made him even more protected of her.

"He knows about us," Edward said without a care in his voice.

Jacob turned to Edward angrily.

"And what if I do, vampire?" he asked.

Edward laughed calmly.

"I know who you are as well, werewolf," he said.

Their eyes filled with realization.

"I thought I smelled something," Rosalie said.

Emmett placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Easy, Rose," he said.

Jacob then turned back to Carlisle for an answer. He still had not been told about Bella.

"Bella has been taken," Carlisle replied.

Jacob's eyes grew with anger. His body started shaking. He could feel his body wanting to change into his wolf form. He knew he could kill them all right now for letting this happen. None of them, maybe even Edward, would how what hot them.

"Easy Jacob," Edward said, knowing what could happen. Esme went to put a hand on Jacob's shoulder, but Jasper stopped her. Emmett pulled Rosalie behind him. "Just breathe."

Jacob started to take deep breaths in and out.

"We have to save her," he said after finally calming down.

"We got it covered, dog," Rosalie said.

"My pack can help," Jacob replied.

Carlisle thought about this for a moment.

"I'm sorry Jacob, but we can't accept," he said.

"Why the hell not?" he asked.

"They won't want to help vampires," Carlisle said.

"We'll get her back," Edward replied.

With that, Jacob stormed out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight books or any of its characters._

Chapter 6 Finding Her

One, maybe even two days had passed since then. Edward was now in deep thought in the piano room, trying to figure out exactly how they were going to save Bella from James. As he did, he let his fingers press down on the piano keys, creating a beautiful melody.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Alice yelled, running into the room.

Alice ran into Edward's arms and wrapped her arms around his waist tightly. Jasper and Carlisle walked into the room in confusion. Edward was patting Alice awkwardly on the back. What had gotten Alice so excited?

"What's going on?" Jasper asked, crossing his arms.

Alice finally let go of Edward and stood beside Jasper.

"Edward's going to help," she said in a sing-song voice.

"I haven't agreed to anything yet," he replied, although he knew she was right.

Wasn't she always? He hated that she had these visions sometimes. Couldn't his thoughts be his for just a moment? The he thought about the millions of people's thoughts that he himself had invaded.

"You will," Alice said, wrapping herself around Jasper as the two left the room.

Carlisle and Edward shared a look. This was the first time that they had been alone together since the day Edward had decided to leave the family.

"She takes some getting used to," Carlisle said.

Edward was surprised when he felt his mouth curve into a smile. He knew then he had to this alone. Without any of their help. He cared about them too much to risk their lives.

Later on that night, Edward would sneak out only to fall into James's trap.

xxx

I sit on the only piece of furniture in my prison, my bed, with my arms wrapped around my knees tightly. This is what I have been doing for the past three days; just waiting for the Cullen's, Edward, to save me. I jump up when the door opens and James throws Edward into the room with me.

"Edward!" I yell out.

I want to run to him, but something stops me from doing so. Edward must have known something like this was going to happen because it looks like he has eaten recently.

"Let's see how long he lasts before killing you," James says, laughing at the horrified look in my eyes.

It was then I realized his real plan. He was going to have Edward be the one to kill me. This was payback for all the times Edward had stopped him from killing people.

"That was his plan this whole time," I say in shock, my voice small.

I still do not get up to confront Edward as he tries helplessly to break down the door.

"Don't try," I finally tell him after a few minutes.

He ignores me and continues to throw himself into the door and walls. If he were human, he would have broken some bones. After a few more hours of this, he finally accepts defect and joins me on the bed.

"Has he hurt you?" Edward asks me, taking hold of my arms and examining them.

This is the first think he has said since being locked up.

"Not physically," I answer as he lowers my arm and takes my hand. "I guess he's leaving that that job to you."

"I won't," Edward says.

I realize this is the only time he will ever touch again until we are rescued as he kisses the top of my head and takes his place in the corner of the room.

"Time will tell," I say. He looks away from me. I begin to wonder if he will even talk to me until then either. So much for the company. "How long?"

I want him to say something. Anything that will make me feel even remotely better for ever having feelings for a vampire. That since he has been with me, he can control himself from wanting to kill me.

"I don't know," Edward answers.

I take a breath. Who knows? It might be the last one I ever take again.

xxx

Jacob had just finished yelling at his pack leader, Sam, about going to save Bella.

"For the last time, Jacob. No!" Sam yelled.

Jacob could feel the blood in the vein begin to boil. He was in danger of losing his control of staying in his human form.

"Sam, he'll…" he began.

Jacob could not finish his sentence. He did not want to think about how that vampire was going to kill her. Maybe he already had.

"Bella Swan is not our concern. She made the choice to be with vampires," Sam said.

With that, Sam walked away to talk to the other members of the pack. Some of them were on Jacob's side, but there was nothing they could do about it. Jacob walked over to where another member of the pack was sitting and sat next to him.

"If you wanted things to be different, you should have become chief," Seth Clearwater said.

Seth was a few years younger than Jacob, and thought of him as a big brother. He was going to be on Jacob's side no matter what, even if he did not like it. This was one of those times. Seth, as well as the rest of the pack, knew Jacob's feelings for Bella. He, however, did not think Jacob should get involved in looking for her. Especially when there was a vampire in the mix.

"Giving it up seemed like a good idea at the time," Jacob said.

When Jacob had learned that he was going to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, he knew he was going to be asked to assume the role of alpha, the leader. However, he had decided to pass it on to Sam, who had been the first in the group to have the ability to change into a werewolf.

"So, what are you going to do?" Seth asked.

"Nothing. You heard Sam," Jacob said.


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight books or any of its characters._

Chapter 7 We'll See How Long

It had been almost a week, maybe even two, and Edward's eyes were getting darker and darker as the days went by. Edward was still at the corner of the room, refusing to look or talk to me. I had given up trying to talk to him about four days ago. I was beginning to wonder if the Cullen's would even come anymore. Death was something I had begun to accept.

"They should've been here by now," I say with a sigh.

I end up lying in bed and close my eyes. Sleep was also coming easier to me. If Edward was going to kill me, better it be in my sleep I figure. It seemed to be only a second that my head hit the pillow that we heard the attack from outside.

"What's going…" I begin, but Edward covers his mouth with a finger.

I pull the covers away from and begin to get up when Edward's there, pushing me back down. It is so sudden I do not what else to do but stay as still as possible and wait for his teeth to sink into my neck. I close my eyes as his mouth draws closer.

"Stay here and don't move," Edward whispers to me.

I do as I was told because Edward's eyes were black as night now. The fact that he did not kill me says something about his will power.

"Can you at least tell me what's going on out there?" I ask.

Edward turns from the door where he has his ear pressed against.

"It's Emmett and Jasper," he says.

"And the others?" I ask.

I feel myself getting excited. I then kick myself for doing so. Yes, they had come to rescue us, but that does not mean they were going to win.

"Waiting for the moment to get us out," Edward says.

And then it became silent. The fighting was now over, and someone had won. The question was who was it?

"Edward…" I begin.

I want him to tell me. Not caring he wanted me stay on the bed; I get up and walk by his side. It is a stupid a move on my part, but somehow I know Edward is not going to hurt me no matter how much he wants to.

"They killed him," Edward says.

"Yes!" I yell.

Without thinking, I wrap my arms around his neck tightly. I close my eyes as Edward places one hand lightly on the small of my back.

"Um, Bella.." Edward begins, and my eyes snap open.

I quickly let go of him. I had forgotten that he had not eaten in a while. I was probably looking good to him great now.

"I'm so sorry," I apologize.

Someone then clears their throat. I had not noticed that the door was now open and that the Cullens were standing in front of it, watching Edward and I with curious eyes. I feel my cheeks flush, and Edward quickly let's go of me. I do not ask him why he does this.

"Second time, kids," Emmett laughs.

"Oh, leave them be," Esme says with a sweet smile on her face.

"I have to go," Edward says.

"Why?" I ask. His family just saved his life and he is taking off? I then realize it is getting very hard for him to be around me because he has not eaten. "Oh."

Alice walks over to me and wraps an arm around me when Edward runs out of the room without saying another word to us. To me.

"Will he ever come back?" I ask.

Alice smiles and starts to comb out my hair with one of her hands. Inside, I know she is just dying to clean me up and make me over when we get back to their house.

"Do you want him to is the better question," Alice say, looking at me straight in the eyes.

I am almost certain she is trying to get the answer out of me by reading my mind. However, she cannot. And neither can Edward. So, I spare her the trouble in doing so by answering truthfully.

"I… yeah, I guess I do," I realize.

Did I know that was going to be the answer? Deep inside I did, but it still shocked me to actually say it out loud.

"Then, yes, he will be back," Alice replies with an almost confident voice.

I took that as she had not had a vision yet of Edward returning.

"Let's get you cleaned up and back home," Esme says.

She and Alice guide me out the door, and I can tell that they are trying to shield me from the view to the side of me, but I can see the fire that had been built that now burned James from the corner of my eye. That was only way to make sure to truly kill him.

"Oh my God! Charlie must be freaking out," I say, realizing how my father must be feeling right now, not knowing if I was dead or alive.

He probably had everyone on the case looking for me.

"He is a little angry with you," Alice says, not looking at me, but I can tell that she wants to.

"A little?" I ask with a laugh. Charlie was Forks's Police Chief. There is nothing little about his reactions. "I've been here for almost three weeks."

I feel myself calming down. Damn Jasper and his stupid mind tricks. I want to be able to yell at them, but I cannot.

"He thinks you were camping with us," Jasper says.

"And he believed you?" I ask.

I was hard to believe Jasper walking up to Charlie and asking permission for his daughter to go camping with this unusual family.

"I can be very convincing," Alice says.

Well, if had been Alice talking to Charlie, that was different. Everyone loves her.


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight books or any of its characters._

Chapter 8 You Can Stay

As I had expected from the start, Charlie was furious with me when I arrived home that night, Alice at my side. When she left, I was told that I would be grounded for a whole month. I would have to go to school and then straight back home. If only I could tell him the truth about what had happened to me in that prison for three weeks. But I cannot tell him of course. He would not believe me even if I did tell him that the Cullens were vampires and that they had to rescue from another vampire who wanted me dead.

"Has he…"I begin to ask Alice one day at the lunch table.

However, I find that I cannot bring myself to finish the sentence. Alice looks up from the plate of food that will not be eaten. Her eyes are golden brown from their recent hunt. She knows who 'he' is and so dose Jasper, Emmett, and Rose.

"No, but he might," Alice says, taking an apple in her hand and turning it around and around, not even bothering to look at me or the apple for that matter.

I sigh as I take a drink of water and look down at my own half eaten food. I can tell this is bothering her as much as it is bothering me.

"He hasn't decided yet?" I ask, still not looking at her, although my eyes are daring me to do so.

My fingers find my fork and I start picking at the tiny bit of green beans that are left on my plate. Surly Edward had to have made a decision by now. He has had enough time to think and hunt on it.

"No," Jasper says because apparently Alice was not going to answer my question.

The rest of lunch was silent. At one point I being to think I know what Alice is thinking. What if everything she thought was a lie and Edward has somehow been able to fool us? How dare he do that us! How dare he do that to me?

xxx

The day I get ungrounded, Alice asks me to come over to her house, which Charlie was reluctant at first. I did not blame him. After all, they were the reason I was grounded in the first place. I do not see any visible evidence that anything was different. Had a part of me wanted Edward to be waiting at the front door for me? I have to admit that, yes, I had.

"What's going on?" I ask as Carlisle let's me into their huge house.

Then our eyes meet for the first time in a mouth. It seems like forever since I have seen him. Now here he is in front of me, and I cannot say a word to him. When he does not say anything either, I begin to wonder if he is still trying to read my mind.

"Hi," Edward says.

However, he does not make any movement towards me. I notice Jasper has his arms around Alice. The look in her eyes tells me she would be crying right now if she could.

"Hi," I reply after finally finding my voice, which comes out small.

"Edward's staying with us," Esme says.

I am scared to smile, mostly in part because of Emmett. I can just imagine Rose looking at him, ready to hit him if he did or said anything. I chance a glance in their direction, and sure enough, Rose has her eyes glued to her mate. My eyes then meet Edward's again.

"You are?" I ask him.

"I haven't…" Edward starts to say, but Alice is quick to cover his mouth.

Of course she was not going to let him say anything else against the matter.

"Oh, you will," Alice replies.

She uncovers his mouth and goes back to Jasper.

"Is she always like this?" Edward asks, placing his hands on his hips.

"Get used to it," Emmett says with a laugh.

Alice gives him an evil look, and for the first time, I can see the vampire in her coming out.

"I'm going to stay the night to think things over," Edward replies.

"I guess if I see you at school tomorrow, I'll know your decision?" I ask.

"Yeah," Edward says.

I know that deep down, Alice is jumping up and down. I am sure she and Esme have already got his room in under for him. She walks me out to my truck without another word. But I know that she is dying inside to tell me something, but does not. That Edward will indeed be with them in the morning is what I am hoping she wants to say.

xxx

I almost scream when I open my door to find Edward sitting at my desk when I get home. I should not be surprised, but I am.

"One of these days Charlie will be the one opening this door, and what then?" I ask.

"I'd hear him. Remember?" Edward asks me with a surprising smile, showing his brilliant white teeth.

"Right." I move to my bed, feeling absolutely stupid for the comment. I guess I figured that if he could not read my mind, he would not able to read Charlie's. "So, what now?" I ask.

"What do you want to happen?" Edward asks.

He moves to my bed, and I immediately take notice of his eyes.

"Your eyes," I say.

"What?" Edward asks with a perplexed look on his face.

"Your eyes. They're more golden than I've ever seen them," I say.

He joins me on the bed. I can tell by the way his is looking at me hand that he wants to hold it, so I offer it to him, and he very gently takes it in his cold hand.

"I can't stay away from you any longer. I didn't know what to do with myself when you were kidnapped," Edward says.

"Well, here I am," I say.

"Here you are," Edward says.


End file.
